Hi, I'm back. Sorry for the really long wait. I had writers block on this story for a while, but I have ideas for this story again, and I'm not even finished with the third idea (I have six so far) and I'm already five pages into the third chapter!

I hope that everyone likes this chapter. I worked really hard on this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Keeping it simple.

Ash was looking up when he caught sight of a Starly flying down onto a branch of a tree along the path. That in itself wasn't odd. What was odd was that it was all alone. Only Starly's that wanted to get much stronger left their Flock.

That settled it then. He would capture the bird.

"Meowth, Battlefront!" he said.

Though seemingly shocked that he was chosen, Meowth instantly obeyed. He stood in the bird's path. He meowed a challenge to the Starly and it braced itself to fight.

It moved first, attacking with a Wing Attack.

Meowth freaked for a moment, memories of being beaten by Ash and his friends flashing through his head. But then he firmed up, knowing that the same boy who kept beating him was now his Trainer and wouldn't let him get hurt. The moment he ordered something he would obey.

"Meowth, spin to the left and get behind him! Then hit him in the back with Fury Swipes!" Ash ordered.

Meowth instantly obeyed, trusting his Trainer. He spun until he was right behind the Starly, claws already powered up for the Fury Swipes, leaving no time for the bird to dodge or counter.

Starly gave a cry of pain as he was sent crashing into the ground. As Meowth was marveling over the feeling of landing a hit the Starly pushed itself up. It launched itself at Meowth with a Quick Attack.

"Protect!" Ash barked.

Meowth raised the green barrier just in time for the bird to slam into it and bounce off of it.

"Follow up with your own Quick Attack combined with Tackle!" Ash called.

Meowth started running, at first on two feet, and then on finding that awkward with the attack, on all fours. He slammed into Starly with the combo, knocking it to the ground and out cold.

Ash threw the Pokeball that he was holding at the Starly. It hit the Pokémon and sucked it in. the ball rocked two times and then pinged, signaling capture.

Meowth picked up the ball and brought it to Ash, receiving some pats for his efforts. "Good job, Meowth! That was great!" Ash said.

Meowth had a wide grin on his face. "I won! I won!" he cheered.

"Rai Raichu!" Raichu congratulated.

"Thanks, Raichu!" Meowth said, getting back to his spot on Ash's shoulder.

They were about to continue when a boy around Ash's age, but with shoulder length purple hair and coal black eyes, walked out of the woods to stop in front of them, turning to face them as he did so.

He looked at Ash with contempt. "Hmph! Why bother capturing such a weak and pathetic Pokémon? There are plenty of other Starly's out there that are much stronger," he said.

Ash stood calm. He'd dealt with an arrogant Gary and Drew and many other arrogant people. He could deal with one more.

"I believe that any Pokémon can become strong if you raise and train them right. I mean, come on, I made a Caterpie into a strong Butterfree and Caterpie are noted as being some of the weakest Pokémon out there," he said.

'No offense to you, Butterfree. Sorry,' he thought.

"Yeah. I'm still humiliated from losing to that guy," Meowth mumbled.

The purple haired guy just snorted. "I don't care for weak Pokémon. I only care for the strong ones! If they're not strong then I don't have time for them," he said.

That got Ash angry. Here was a guy who might abuse his Pokémon simply because they were weak and then release them. He didn't know it, but his eyes took on a silverish-blue sheen, making the kid just a bit nervous before he firmed up.

"Care to back that up with a Pokémon Battle?" Ash asked.

The boy smirked and nodded. "I was hoping you'd ask that. I'll show you that it's only strength that matters! Torterra, Stand by for Battle!" he said, calling out his Pokémon.

Ash thought for a minute before pulling out one of his Pokémon from his belt. He smirked. "Let's see how you like this. Wartortle, Battlefront!" he called.

Wartortle came out with his signature sunglasses, a purposefully cocky and arrogant smile on his face, hoping to anger his opponent.

He hadn't evolved into Blastoise yet because he wanted to reach his limits as a Wartortle first. Only then would he evolve into Blastoise, not a moment sooner.

"The name is Paul Shinji. And you are? Not that it matters," the kid asked.

Ash smirked, despite feeling irritated by this kid. He was over being angry, but this kid rubbed him the wrong way. "Ash Ketchum," he introduced with a mocking bow.

Paul looked amused and angry at the same time. "This battle will be over pretty quickly if you're using a Water type against my Grass type. And yours isn't even fully evolved! Torterra, finish this quickly! Sunny Day followed by Solar Beam!" he ordered.

Ash smirked. "Wartortle, Skull Bash!" he ordered calmly. No need to shout out his orders. Everyone could hear him just fine without him shouting.

Wartortle launched himself at Torterra at amazing speeds, glowing as he powered up the attack. Before Torterra could start charging his Solar Beam, Wartortle was already crashing into him, sending him back a few feet, knocked unconscious by that one blow.

Paul looked incredulous, shocked and angry. "How? How could he have been taken out in one hit? I know that he's not weak, so why are yours so strong?" he asked, looking back at Ash.

He realized that this may just be a losing battle after all, where he once thought that he'd win in the end.

Ash crossed his arms. "My Pokémon are my friends and family. Just like I want to make them happy and make sure that they're taken care of properly, they show me their appreciation by giving their all in battle and training. Now, is that it? Or are you going to throw out any more of your Pokémon?" he asked coolly, his voice like frost, eyes still glowing.

"I want to see how my other Pokémon stand up to you. A three on three sound good to you?" Paul asked.

"Counting the one I just knocked out? Or another three?" Ash asked.

"Counting Torterra," Paul said with an arrogant smirk, thinking that maybe he could win this with Elekid.

"Very well. Send out your Pokémon," Ash said in an emotionless voice.

If Paul admitted it, he was slightly scared of this Ash. He'd seen what Ash was like while he'd followed them down the road for a bit and so knew that this Ash was much different. Wow, that sounded Stalkerish. Shaking those thoughts from his head, he called out his next Pokémon.

"Elekid, Stand by for Battle!" he called.

Elekid appeared in a flash of light, arms twirling as he readied himself for battle.

Ash didn't even consider switching Wartortle, he was just so used to facing Pokémon that his were weak to and coming out the victors.

"Wartortle, Aqua Ice Jet," he ordered in a low voice, only letting his Pokémon hear him.

Wartortle gave no sign of hearing him besides simply starting the attack. This attack Ash had the idea for while on that Mountain and he helped his Pokémon perfect it.

Paul simply smirked. "Dodge, Elekid! Then use a Thunderbolt!" he said.

Elekid dodged out of the way and turned to use Thunderbolt, only to get slammed into by Wartortle who had swung the attack around to nail him from behind. He was thrown back and dust was kicked up by his landing.

Only Ash was not concerned about the outcome of the attack. He could sense that Elekid was unconscious.

When the smoke cleared it showed just what he'd known and what the other three had suspected.

Paul growled and returned the walking battery. "That was pathetic! You can't even beat a type that's weaker than you! I guess that you need to train more!" he said to it harshly and somewhat maliciously.

"You know," Ash drawled, something that he didn't normally do, choosing to save it for when he wanted to anger his opponents, and it looked like it was working. "You really aren't proving your point to me at all. You say that you only want power, and I say I'll raise any Pokémon and make it strong. But whose winning this match? You, the strength addict, or me, the pushover?" he asked.

Paul just growled again, too stubborn and angry to admit the point. This boy, this nobody just managed to take out two of his Pokémon with one hit each!

Then he thought, maybe this battle could awaken Chimchar's hidden potential. Thinking that it sounded like a good idea, he called out Chimchar. "Chimchar, Stand by for Battle!"

Ash looked on in disbelief. Surely Paul was kidding? He had just watched as Wartortle defeated two types that he was weak to in one hit. Now he was sending out a type that Wartortle was strong against?

He shrugged. Whatever the Rookie wanted to do he was fine with. "Wartortle, end this quickly! Bubble!" he ordered.

Paul saw red. Did this guy seriously underestimate him so much that he was using one of the weakest Water type moves out there?

As he saw Wartortle use the move it was confirmed. He was!

"Dodge by using Dig!" Paul ordered, smirking.

Ash smirked back. Well, if he was gonna play that way... "Wartortle, Earthquake! Then when he comes up use Water Gun!" he called out.

Paul's eyes widened. "Get out of there, Chimchar!" he ordered frantically.

The Fire Chimp jumped out of the ground, halfway to where he was supposed to be, only to get nailed in the face with a Water Gun while the earth shook from the Earthquake.

Needless to say, Chimchar fainted.

"Arrgh! You useless, pathetic Pokémon! That's it, you'll never be strong! You'll never awaken your hidden potential! I'll never defeat Brandon with you on my team! I don't need you holding me back, get lost!" Paul said, pressing the button on the Pokeball, causing a blue light to surround Chimchar and then fade.

Paul was already walking away while Ash's X-Transceiver collected the Winnings.

Ash clenched his teeth at seeing an obviously injured Pokémon being abandoned right then and there just because it lost a battle.

He walked over to the now awake Chimchar who was watching sadly as Paul left. He knelt down to his size watching sadly as Chimchar flinched when he raised his hand.

"Hey, Chimchar. I'm sorry. Would you like me to come with me? I promise that I will treat you well and with all of the respect that you deserve, if not more," Ash said, placing his hand onto Chimchar's head to rub it.

Chimchar leaned in and thought about the offer. Well, it was either this or the wild. And since he didn't want to go back to the wild, he would choose this. He nodded with a weak smile. "Char," he said.

Ash smiled gently. "Good. But first, let's get you healed up," he said, digging around in his bag for a Potion when he felt his hand hit a book that was not there before. Deciding to deal with that later, he pulled out the Potion and began to spray it onto Chimchar's wounds.

Once that was done Ash held up a Pokeball, giving Chimchar the choice again. Chimchar looked back in the direction that Paul went in, and then back at Ash and the Pokeball. Without another thought he reached up and pressed the button on the ball and got sucked in, the Pokeball pinging without a struggle.

Ash smiled and stood up. "Thanks, Chimchar. We'll make a great team. I'll make sure that you're really strong so that you can show Paul your strength and make him regret abandoning you," he said.

The ball moved like it was nodding and then Ash clipped it to his belt. He turned to his traveling partners. "Let's go," he said and he started to walk off, already planning on reporting Paul to the Authorities. He would make sure that Paul got what he deserved. Releasing an injured Pokémon, how distasteful.

Brock and Dawn hurried to catch up to him before he left them there.

III

A while down the road they came across a wild Buneary that was sitting under a tree, eating a berry. Ash looked at her and thought about catching her, but when he saw the look in Dawn's eyes he knew that she really wanted to catch that Buneary.

He smiled at her when she looked at him to see if he wanted to catch the Buneary. "Go for it, Dawn," he said.

She cheered and faced Buneary, who had noticed them and saw that she was about to get into a battle. Instead of running she stood her ground. "Bun, Eary! Buneary!" she said.

"Piplup, I choose you!" Dawn called as she released her Piplup.

"Pip Piplup!" Piplup stated as he saw Buneary. He got ready for battle.

"Alright, Piplup, use Bubblebeam!" Dawn ordered.

Piplup fired off a Bubblebeam at the Buneary, but she leaped over it and came down with a Bounce, slamming her feet into his face.

Piplup got up, a little angry, but otherwise alright.

"Okay, now use Peck!" Dawn ordered.

Piplup nodded and his beak glowed, then he launched himself at Buneary who got hit and flew back a bit. When she got up she looked dazed, but fine.

"Okay, now use Bubblebeam again!" Dawn called out.

Once again Piplup fired a Bubblebeam at Buneary. She countered by using Ice Beam on the bubbles and making the two attacks explode when they collided. They were blown back, each taking a bit of damage, but otherwise fine.

It was Buneary who made the first move this time as she charged at Piplup, a move that Ash recognized as Dizzy Punch.

"Look out, Dawn. That's Dizzy Punch. It could make Piplup confused!" he called out as a warning.

She nodded to him. "Thanks!" she said. She turned back to the battle and decided to take something from Ash's earlier battle with Starly. "Piplup, spin to the right to dodge and then use Bubblebeam again!" she ordered.

Piplup evaded nicely and then fired a Bubblebeam at Buneary's unprotected back. It hit at point blank range. The area was filled with smoke and they waited until it died down.

Though Ash was smiling as he could sense that Dawn had won. He may not be very proficient with his Aura, but Red had taught him the basics, such as Aura Sensing and Aura Sight.

When the smoke cleared, Dawn saw that Buneary was knocked out and cheered. She was about to throw an unprimed Pokeball when Ash called out to her.

"Dawn, you've gotta prime it first!" he instructed.

She blushed, embarrassed that he had to tell her something so obvious. She primed the ball before she threw it at the downed Buneary with a cry of, "Go, Pokeball!"

It hit Buneary and bounced off of her, the ball letting out a beam of red light that encompassed her and sucked her into it. The Pokeball fell to the ground and started rocking. After two shakes it pinged, signifying capture.

Dawn stood there for a second, unable to believe that she'd done it. Then it came to her. She cheered and raced over to Buneary's Pokeball. "We did it, Piplup! We caught a Pokémon on our first try! We have a new friend!" she said happily.

Piplup patted the Pokeball in greeting. "Piplup!" he said.

"Good job, Dawn. Very nicely done," Ash complimented.

She grinned at him. "Thanks, Ash! Though I did use your trick. Are you angry?" she asked, frowning at the end.

Ash looked confused. "Angry? No. Should I be?" he asked.

"I think that she was afraid that you'd be upset at her for stealing one of your tricks, that's all," Brock interjected.

Ash's eyes lit up in understanding. "Oh! No, Dawn. I'm not angry. If you ever feel that one of my tricks will help you out, use them! I'm not gonna be mad!" he said, chuckling slightly. Not meanly though, so she understood.

She grinned. "Great! Thanks, Ash!" she said as she clipped Buneary's Pokeball to her belt.

"Well, let's get moving! We want to make it to Jubilife City within the week so that you make it in time for your Contest, right?" Brock asked.

"Right! Let's go!" Dawn cheered and she recalled Piplup before she took off running down the road.

"Hey, Dawn, wait up!" Brock yelled after her as he and Ash began running after her to catch up.

Ash and Raichu laughed at her being so energetic while Meowth shook his head fondly, reminded of his time with Jessie and James while a part of Team Rocket.

Speaking of that, maybe it was time to tell Ash the truth. The truth about Team Rocket.

III

"Alright, this is a nice spot to set up camp for the night! I'll help you set it up, but then my Pokémon and I will start evening Training! Brock, do you mind cooking dinner for us?" Ash asked.

Brock smiled. "That's my job, right? It has been since I first joined you!" he said.

Ash frowned as he felt guilty. "I'm sorry, Brock. I should have thought to learn how to cook sooner so that I could take over once in awhile," he said.

"Hey, don't feel sorry, I like cooking! Still, knowing you, you're looking for some way to repay me, right?" Brock asked.

Ash sheepishly nodded. "Yeah," he said.

"Alright then. Here's what you can do. I would like two things. One, please let my Pokémon train with yours. Two, please help clean up dinner. Can you do that?" Brock asked with a smile.

"Sure can! Thanks, Brock, you're the best!" Ash said.

Brock chuckled. "It's no problem. I only have Bonsly for now though," he said.

"Not a problem!" Ash said. He then went off to train his Pokémon and Brock's Bonsly.

He went to the edge of the clearing that they were in and let the Pokémon out. They all looked at him. Bonsly looked around and saw Brock further away, getting started on dinner. "Bonsly?" he asked.

Ash knelt down in front of him, smiling. "Hi, Bonsly. Brock asked for me to train you today, since he's making dinner. Is that alright with you?" he asked.

Bonsly hesitated for a minute before he nodded, smiling. "Bonsly!" he said.

Ash grinned. "Great! Alright, everyone, let's get to training! Here, Bonsly, you'll have to wear this while training," he said.

Pikachu and Meowth jumped down from his shoulders and stood in the line for the weights to be put on. Once everyone had theirs on, they began laps.

Chimchar got a bit of one-on-one training from Ash. "Chim?" he asked.

Ash smiled. "Well, see, I thought that it'd be a good idea to scan you and see what moves you know, as well as your Ability, before giving you any real training," he said.

"Char!" Chimchar said, nodding. It made sense. Paul had done the very same thing. Then he felt nervous. Would Ash abandon him too, like Paul did, after seeing how weak he was?

Ash brought up the Xtransceiver to Scan Chimchar.

Chimchar, the Chimp Pokémon. Chimchar easily climbs the sheerest of walls and lives on mountain tops. When it sleeps, its flames go out. This Chimchar is Male and has the Ability Blaze. Chimchar's known moves are Scratch, Leer, Ember, Taunt, Flamewheel, Dig, and Flamethrower. Known Egg Moves are Counter, Blaze Kick and Thunder punch. Note: Egg Moves have not been unlocked yet.

Ash nodded, smiling. "Okay, that's a good moveset. It can be improved on, but that can be done in a bit. Right now I want to see how well you are with your attacks. Let's see... Ah, yes. Quilava, come over here for a minute please!" he called.

Quilava paused from her laps and nodded, coming over with a smile. "Quil?" she asked.

"I need you to spar against Chimchar here. See, I need you to judge the power in each attack. Can you do that for me?" Ash asked.

Quilava nodded. "Lava!" she said.

"Okay, Chimchar, use Scratch!" Ash ordered right away.

Chimchar leapt in to attack, dealing a double Scratch, but barely doing any damage. He winced as he saw the faint red lines on Quilava's underbelly. He really wasn't strong, was he? He lowered his head in disappointment.

Ash saw that and decided to nip that in the bud. "Alright, good job, Chimchar! That was great!" Ash said.

Chimchar lifted his head in astonishment. Really? Ash though that that was good? Well then, he had to live up to that! He would do his best to live up to Ash's expectations! "Chimchar!" he said, smiling.

"Okay, now use Fury Swipes!" Ash ordered.

Chimchar nodded and attacked Quilava with Fury Swipes, hitting five times in a row since she wasn't dodging. Again, he saw that this barely hurt her more than the last attack. However, instead of serving to make him feel weak, it firmed up his desire to get stronger for this Trainer who believed in him so much!

"Alright, great job! Now use Flamewheel!" Ash ordered.

"Char!" Chimchar said, flame leaking from his mouth, then he curled up into a ball and shot off at a fair speed towards Quilava.

This time she dodged him three times, each time he turned and went after her. Then she stood still and let him hit her. It pushed her back a foot, but otherwise did no damage.

He came out of the attack feeling dizzy, but he saw her nod in approval and he felt glad. He looked over to Ash to see him smiling, making him feel even more happy.

"Alright, that was great, Chimchar! Here, eat this Persim berry, that will stop the dizziness," Ash said, handing over a berry.

Chimchar took it and ate it, feeling better almost immediately. He stood up, ready for the next order.

"Leer, then Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.

While a little startled about the Status move, Chimchar did so anyway, Leering at Quilava, making her blink, then he shot off a Flamethrower at her, which just washed over her, doing no damage at all.

Well, that only made him aspire to be as strong as her, and then stronger! Anything for his new Trainer! Then he felt nervous again. What if this wasn't good enough for Ash? His Leer hadn't done much, and his Flamethrower did nothing! What if Ash didn't want him anymore, now knowing how weak he was?

Ash walked up to them with a smile, petting both on th head. "Great job, both of you. Okay, let's get to how well you did. Quilava, correct me if I get anything wrong, okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Quil!" she said.

He nodded back. "Okay, let's start with your Scratch. No, it didn't do much to Quilava, but she's one of my strongest Pokémon, so doing any kind of damage to her at all is great. It means that you've been training very hard to perfect your moves, and to make them deal as much damage as possible. Right?" he asked.

"Char," Chimchar said, nodding.

"Right. So then, next is your Fury Swipes. A little slow with each follow up Swipe, but that's okay, with training will come speed. You did quite well in that attack, because where you lacked in speed you made up in power. Good job. Next is your Flamewheel. It was fairly powerful, but it does need work, in speed, power and accuracy. Ideally, your opponent should not have time to dodge your attack, but you made up for that by adjusting your course to hit Quilava, which many people don't expect, so good job. As for power, both the flames should be stronger, and the impact that you make should also do a great deal of damage, so we'll train you in that.

I also noticed that you became rather dizzy after coming out of that attack, which I can't always fix in the middle of battle, so I'll have you work with Quilava on it. She's rather experienced in Flamewheel, so she can teach you how to not become dizzy, that way you can keep moving without pause when you use that move mid battle. Is this alright with you two?" he asked.

The two nodded. Quilava because she could see a great deal of potential in this young Fire type, and Chimchar because he wanted to learn as much as he could so that he could become as strong as he could.

Ash nodded. "Alright, good. Now, your Leer didn't do much because Quilava here is pretty brave. See, Leer works well when the opponent is able to be made nervous, or scared. Basically weaker Pokémon than Quilava, and Pokémon who haven't seen as much as her either. Next up is your Flamethrower. It was actually a well powered attack. The only reasons that it didn't do any damage is because Quilava is much stronger, and because she is a Fire type as well.

As for your Dig, I saw how well you used that attack in our battle with Paul, and it was very good. Your weakness with that is what I did, use Earthquake and then attack as you came up. Either way you're going to get hurt, unless you come up somewhere that they don't expect, like to the side, or behind them. To do that though, we'll need to increase the speed of your Dig.

Now, as for your Egg Moves, I think that you can work with Raichu to learn Thunder punch, and Riolu to learn both Counter and Blaze Kick, since he has those moves. Do you think that you can handle this much work?" Ash asked, finishing his long assessment.

Chimchar nodded. "Chimchar!" he said, determined.

"Good! First up will be Flamewheel. First, try to increase the speed and accuracy. Once you're better with that, increase the heat of the flame. Good luck. Now, I have a phone call to make," Ash said, walking away to dial Prof. Rowan.

III

"I see. This Paul boy just abandoned your new Chimchar, while it was still injured from battling you?" Prof. Rowan asked, Ash having called him on his Xtransceiver. He was frowning, looking both angry and worried.

Ash nodded, scowling. "Yeah. This is the latest Pokémon that I now have thanks to them being abandoned by their Trainers. I'm so mad! Why do people have to abandon their Pokémon all the time?! It's so disgusting!" he said. He wanted to be able to do something for them! He had lots of money, so maybe he could think of something.

Prof. Rowan nodded. "I understand how you're feeling. I agree with your point of view. Did you get any pictures of Chimchar while he was injured? That's the only way that we can get him arrested and get his Pokémon License taken away," he asked.

Ash frowned. "Hold on, let me see," he said.

He pressed some buttons on his Xtransceiver, knowing that it occasionally took pictures of his surroundings, that way he could catch anything he had missed at the time. He pulled up pictures from that morning. To his great relief, he found two pictures of the injured Chimchar, then one of Ash healing him.

He nodded. "Yes, Sir, I have two, and one of me saving him," he said.

Prof. Rowan nodded, a pleased smile on his face. "Send them over then. I will turn them into the proper Authorities. I will also need a written statement from you and any other witnesses who were involved with this scene. Please have them ready by tomorrow evening, then I can have the Authorities take action against this Paul Shinji," he said.

Ash nodded, sending the pictures over. "Was he a Trainer that you sponsored, Professor?" he asked.

Prof. Rowan shook his head. "No. He must have caught the Chimchar in the wild, because I had no knowledge of him. Ah, the pictures have come through. Let's see... My word, that is pretty bad! It's a good thing that Chimchar's don't die in water, unlike the Charmander line," he said, thanking fate for this small, but significant detail.

Ash scowled again. "Yeah, I know. I have a Charizard who was abandoned as a Charmander. His old Trainer, Damian, left Charmander out on a rock in the middle of the woods, in a rainstorm, leaving him to die! I promised myself that I would never let this happen again, but look at Chimchar!" he said.

"While it is indeed bad what happened to your Charizard, you didn't just let it happen with Chimchar. You instead did the right thing as a Trainer and person, taking him in immediately and healing him, then bringing the matter to my attention. While I would have preferred it to be earlier that you reported it, you still did it in a timely fashion, and for that I thank you," Prof. Rowan said, giving Ash a smile.

Ash smiled back. "Thank you, Sir. What can I do now?" he asked.

"Other than writing up the report, you can be a good Trainer and friend to Chimchar, as that's what he needs most of all right now. Can you do that?" Prof. Rowan asked.

Ash nodded firmly. "Of course I can! I've already started training him to be even stronger than he was than before," he said.

Prof. Rowan nodded with a smile. "Good. It sounds like you two already have a decent bond. May I see his training?" he asked.

Ash nodded, moving the camera to focus on Chimchar and Quilava, who were busy practicing with Flamewheel.

"Hmm, that is quite good. He seems to be improving well, though the speed is less than I expected. Wait, that might explain it. Are those weights that I see on them?" Prof. Rowan asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, I figured that it will increase their speed better than the old fashion way," he said.

Prof. Rowan nodded with a smile. "Yes indeed. Good idea. Alright then, I will expect those reports by tomorrow evening. Thank you for reporting this to me. I will see you soon," he said, then he hung up, leaving Ash to put together the report in his head.

He walked up to Brock and Dawn, both who were getting the food served and the table set. "Hey guys, can I get you to do something really important for me?" he asked.

They turned to him, looking worried. "What is it, Ash?" Dawn asked.

"Does this involve any of our Pokémon?" Brock asked, frowning in concern.

Ash nodded. "Yeah, it involves Chimchar. You see, I just finished my call to Prof. Rowan and he said that it would really help if we all wrote a report on what happened when Chimchar was abandoned, such as the way he was treated, what caused the abandonment, and how he was injured and left there. It would also help if you included what I did upon being faced with what happened, such as my taking him in, then reporting it to Prof. Rowan," he said.

They nodded. "Of course! That's no problem, right, Brock?" Dawn asked.

"Right! I'm not happy about this happening again, and I'm not just going to sit back and watch happen without doing anything! Alright, when does he need these reports?" Brock asked.

"Tomorrow evening at the latest," Ash answered.

Brock nodded. "Then I'll start it right after dinner," he said.

"I've never written a report. Can you help me?" Dawn asked.

"Sure. That's not a problem. But first, let's eat dinner!" Brock said.

They nodded.

Ash turned around to face the training Pokémon. "Alright, everyone! It's dinner time!" he called.

The Pokémon that he was training, Raichu, Pidgeot, Riolu, Larvitar, Quilava, Wartortle, Meowth, Bonsly, and Chimchar, gratefully stopped and ran over, tired and worn out, but happy with the training.

Bonsly ran up to Brock and into his arms, chattering about the training, even though he knew that Brock didn't understand much of what he said.

Riolu climbed onto Ash's lap, bringing his bowl with him. He liked to eat on Ash's lap, but so did Larvitar. Since both saw him as their father, they each took turns to sit on his lap during mealtimes. This dinner it was Riolu's, then breakfast would be Larvitar's, then lunch would be Riolu's, then dinner would be Larvitar's, and so on.

Riolu really loved Ash, and he remembered how they met.

Flashback

Inside Riolu's Egg, it was dark. It had been that way for as long as he had been born. But it wasn't quiet. He could hear what went on outside of his Egg. Once he had been born, Palmer, the guy who had him bred, talked about how his Egg would be going to this really strong and kind Trainer, in hopes of giving him a big fight, and as a test of how well he befriended his Pokémon.

So, in theory, he knew that he would be going to a kind and strong Trainer, but in practice, Riolu was afraid that this boy that he would be going to would not be as good of a Trainer and person as Palmer said. Also, by the sounds of it, the other Champions and Battle Frontier Leaders would also be sending Ash Pokémon and Eggs, so he feared that Ash wouldn't have time for all of them, and wouldn't love them all.

Once he hatched, he realized that those fears were silly.

He looked up at the kind face of the boy that he knew was Ash, who was smiling down at him with care.

"Hello, Riolu. I'm Ash, your new Trainer. I hope that you'll like me and will accept me as your Trainer. Now, come on, you just hatched, so let's give you a bath, then get you some food," Ash said.

Riolu smiled and nodded. He instantly loved this boy, this Trainer, with all of his heart, and he knew that he had imprinted on Ash, seeing Ash as his father. That was okay with him, as he knew that this boy would be a good one, and would make him super strong. He also knew that this Ash had a lot of room in his heart, so all of them would be loved and taken care of evenly.

Ash picked him up, then brought him over to a tub of water. Seeing Riolu's confused face, he chuckled. "I had Wartortle use a low powered Scald, then a weak Water Gun to make some warm water for your bath. As soon as I saw your Egg start to glow he got right on that. Charizard is making your food right now," he said, setting him down into the relaxing water.

He giggled as Ash washed the back of his neck, which was ticklish.

Ash grinned. "Oh, so you're ticklish, huh? Well then, here comes more tickling!" he said, hands darting in to tickle Riolu, who found that he was extremely ticklish, and he laughed helplessly.

By the time the tickling was over, he realized that Ash had also been washing him, so when they were done playing, Ash pulled him out to dry him off.

Then Ash brought him over to Charizard, who was holding the bottle of milk. Charizard handed it to Ash, smiling slightly at Riolu.

"Thanks, Charizard, you're a big help. Okay, so I looked up what baby Pokémon eat, and it's a mixture of Berries and Milk. The Berries in here will help you to grow big and strong, and it tastes good, so here," Ash said, handing Riolu the bottle.

Riolu tested it, then smiled at how good it tasted. He kept eating, not taking his eyes away from Ash's face, because he just looked so happy to even be near Riolu, and that was something that Riolu would never get tired of.

Flashback End

Once dinner was over, Ash had the Pokémon do some light exercise, to help them digest their food better. He advised Dawn to do the same thing with Piplup and Buneary, which she did.

"Ash, tomorrow will you help me with making a training routine with Piplup and Buneary?" Dawn asked.

Ash smiled. "Sure, but remember that it has to mesh with your style," he said.

She blinked, looking confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, see, I'm a Trainer and you're a Coordinator. The same training that works for me will not necessarily work for you, because while I'm doing mainly Gym Battles, you're doing Contests. We work on power while you work on finesse. That's just the way that it is," he said.

"Oh, I see. ...Ash, do you think that Gym Battles are better than Contests?" she asked, frowning.

He looked thoughtful. "Hmm, that's a difficult question. Better in what way? While I like Gym Battles more, mostly because I don't have to worry about making it look good, only having to worry about if the move will connect and be powerful enough, I also know that Contests are great too, giving Pokémon a better control over their moves, since they have to use them so precisely, or else the appeal will backfire. I definitely like doing Contests, since it gives me a break from only worrying about sheer power, and it gives me a new challenge of making sure that the appeal is done right. So really, I don't think that one is better than the other," he said, giving her a smile.

"So, you don't think that I'm foolish because I focus on the beauty of my Pokémon?" she asked.

He laughed in such a way that told her that that fear was just silly, and then he explained why before she could become hurt. "Not at all! See, just because the moves and the Pokémon look beautiful doesn't mean that they're any weaker than regular Trainers! I know that you have to battle in Contests, and honestly, it's much harder to battle correctly in a Contest than in a Gym Battle, since you have to make sure that your Pokémon is both showy and doing damage. It's especially difficult if you're doing a double battle, since you have to make sure that both of the Pokémon do damage and are not getting in the way of eachother and instead are working perfectly in sync, and you have to make sure that their appeals do not clash so that they are complimenting eachother. Nah, you're not foolish for that. I bet when you become more experienced that you can win the Wallace Cup!" he said.

She grinned. "Really?!" she asked. Winning the Wallace Cup meant that her Pokémon had to be really showy and strong! For him to believe that she could do it meant a lot to her!

He grinned back. "Of course! Now, let's get those reports done, then we'll head to bed. We can work everything out tomorrow," he said.

She nodded, confidence filling her. "Right!" she said.

They headed over to the table, then began their reports.

Ash finished first, being able to write fast and have his handwriting remain neat. He then took the time to help Dawn with hers, since Brock seemed just fine with his, but had been slowed down by helping Dawn.

Done with that, they all went to bed.

III

The next morning, Ash proofread their reports, made a few changes to them, then scanned them into his Xtransceiver, then sent them to Prof. Rowan via Email.

Once that was done, he made good on his word and began to help Dawn work out a Training Routine for her Pokémon, while Brock was busy making breakfast.

"Okay, so first you have to be aware of what your Pokémon's strengths and weaknesses are," Ash instructed.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, wanting to be clear.

"What types are they weak and strong against? Do they do better on the attack or defense? Are they good at status moves, special moves, or physical moves? Are they good at spinning, rolling, jumping or standing still during a appeal? Are they good at dodging, blocking, or enduring a hit? Are they good sweepers or tanks? How strong are their moves? Do you know any of that?" he clarified.

She shook her head, frowning. "No, sorry," she said. Then she perked up. "But I do know that Piplup is better at Water attacks than his Peck!" she added.

He smiled. "Good, so you know that Piplup has the makings of a good Special attacker. What about Buneary?" he asked.

"Um, that Dizzy Punch looked pretty powerful, but the Ice Beam was good as well! Can a Pokémon be good at both?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yep, those are what we call balanced Attackers. What about her defense?" he questioned.

"Well, she's only been in one battle with me, and that was when I caught her, so I don't really know," she said.

"Well then, the best idea would be to scan her with your Pokedex. That's always a good start," he advised.

She nodded, then took out her pink Pokedex to scan both of her Pokémon.

Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon. It's very proud and its thick down protects it from the cold. Piplup's limited walking skills often cause it to fall down, but that never hurts its pride. This Piplup is Male and has the Ability Torrent. Piplup's known moves are Bide, Peck, Bubblebeam, Pound, Growl, Bubble and Water Sport. Known Egg Moves are Steel Wing, Mud Sport, and Mud Slap. Note: Egg Moves have not been unlocked yet.

Buneary, the Rabbit Pokémon. By quickly extending its rolled up ears, it can launch a powerful attack against its enemies. When sensing danger, it extends both ears as an alert, and when cold, it curls up and goes to sleep. This Buneary is Female and has the Ability Run Away. Buneary's known moves are Dizzy Punch, Bounce, Ice Beam, Pound, Frustration, Foresight, and Endure. Known Egg Moves are Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, and Focus Punch. Note: Egg Moves have not been unlocked yet.

Dawn frowned. "Well, it's great to know the Abilities and Moves, but what about knowing if it's a good attacker or defender?" she asked.

He pointed to a button on her Pokedex. "The Pokedex itself won't tell you those things, but it can tell you what they normally are. To find out for your Pokémon, you have to have them battle eachother. You then have to judge which moves they are better at, then decide what they are. I would also keep in mind what types they will be when they Evolve, such as Piplup will be a Water/Steel type," he said.

"How do I find that out?" she asked.

"Here, bring up Piplup. Right, you press this button to see the Evolutions, then you can see what types they will be. Pretty simple, right?" he asked.

She nodded, looking up Buneary's Evolution. "Huh? I can figure out how they Evolve on here too?" she asked, catching sight of how Buneary's Evolved into Lopunny.

"Yeah. That's really helpful for when your Pokémon wants to Evolve, but you don't know how to Evolve it. Most Evolutions happen by lots of training, but some Evolve from Items or, as the case is here, a deep friendship with your Pokémon. That's how Riolu will Evolve one day. However, here's a tip. Don't go trying to create a friendship just because you want her to Evolve. True friendships happen over time and through real bonding, and knowing that you can trust eachother," Ash advised.

She nodded. "Okay, that makes sense, thank you. So, this button right here will tell me what they normally are? No, I don't want to use that because then I will base their training on what it normally is, not on what it really is. Okay, so their attacks then. Piplup knows mostly Special Moves, so that helps. And Buneary knows mostly Physical Moves. Okay, now I should see how well they use those attacks, right? And judge how powerful they are?" she asked.

He nodded. "That's right. This serves in two ways. One: you can tell how long they've known the move and how much experience they have in using it. Two: you can tell what their preference is for those moves, such as if Buneary prefers to use Ice Beam or Dizzy Punch, or if Piplup likes to use Bubblebeam or Peck, you know, like that," Ash instructed.

She smiled. "Thanks, Ash! Okay, we'll get right to that!" she said.

He smiled back and nodded. "Good. Now, I have to go check on my Pokémon and see how well they're doing in their training, okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Sure! I should be fine for a while!" she said.

"Good. See you in a bit!" he said, walking away towards the group of his Pokémon, with the addition of Bonsly.

He stopped a bit away from them, watching them one at a time. Raichu looked like he was trying to create an Electro Wheel, which would be a good move, so long as he could get it working. It would definitely startle those they were battling, because they wouldn't be expecting it. Once he got it usable, he would have Raichu train with Quilava to get over the dizziness that came with it.

Pidgeot was practicing her dodging while on land, using only her feet to get out of the way, no flying, while wearing weights on her legs to make it harder. Larvitar was practicing his Rock Throw while aiming them at Pidgeot, giving her incentive to dodge and him experience with the attack.

Quilava and Chimchar were practicing Flamewheel still, with Chimchar occasionally taking breaks from that to practice Blaze Kick with Riolu. When Riolu was practicing on his own, he was training to get Aura Sphere to work right as a seeker, figuring that it should work, since humans had made heat seeking missiles.

Wartortle and Meowth were working on Meowth's Thunderbolt, both the accuracy and the power behind it. It turned out that it was actually pretty easy for Meowth to use it, having been hit by it for so long and so often, so his fur barely bristled when he used it, which he was pretty happy about, since it meant that he didn't have to be cleaned as often, as he was still a cat, and cats hate baths. Besides, he didn't fancy being electrocuted by the static left in his fur.

Once Meowth learned Payday he could work on imbuing the coins with electricity, making it likely that the opponent would be paralyzed. Actually, he had a few of those coins from old battles with Meowth and Persian. Perhaps he should find one in his bag to get it ready for Meowth.

He grabbed his bag and stuck his hand in it. As before, it seemed to be holding a lot more in it than normal. He also hit his hand against a book again, causing him to pull it out and look at it.

'Aura Made Easy: by Red.'

'What? When did Red manage to slip this in my bag? Wait, is Aura why my bag is lighter and has more space? Wow, that's so cool! I'll have to thank him when I get back to Kanto! Too bad I don't have his number! Okay, I should get to learning this right away! It would really help me and Riolu! Besides, Lucario said that I should learn how to use it, so now's my chance to learn more than Aura Sensing and Aura Sight!' Ash thought with a grin.

With that, he sat down and began reading.

III

With Ash's new GPS, the group was making good time to Jubilife City. On the way, Ash was testing Dawn's knowledge of Pokémon, especially hers.

She was doing pretty well, now having an idea of how to properly take care of and train her Piplup and Buneary, but it wasn't perfect. Still, Ash gave her an 8/10 score for her prompt and mostly complete answers, while only failing a few answers.

Suddenly, the sky brightened and they turned their attention to it.

"Wow, that's so pretty! What caused that, Ash?" Dawn asked.

"Hmm, my guess is a Sunny Day. I'd know since my Ivysaur uses that move often and it looks almost exactly like that. I'd wager that the slight difference is because of how cold the air is here, and the tilt of the Earth is different here than in the other Regions," Ash answered.

"That is entirely correct. Who, may I ask, are you, young man?" a man in a forest green cloak, carrying a golden harp in the shape of Mew, asked, coming out of the woods, a Budew at his heels, both smiling.

"Oh, I'm Ash Ketchum. This is Raichu, and this is Meowth," Ash said.

"I'm Brock Harrison," Brock said.

"I'm Dawn Berlitz, and this is Piplup!" Dawn said cheerfully.

"I see. I can't say that I've heard of any of you. My apologies," the man said, frowning.

Ash shrugged. "Eh, that's alright. Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Nando, a wandering minstrel. I go around the Regions playing music for people. Lately though, I've been interested in Contests and Gym Battles, though I don't know which to pick. Tell me, are any of you Trainers or Coordinators?" the man asked.

"I'm a Coordinator! Or, I want to be anyway," Dawn said.

Ash smiled. "Don't worry, Dawn. You'll get there eventually. I'm a normal Trainer, though I do take on Contests occasionally," he told Nando.

Brock shrugged. "I used to be a Gym Leader, though lately I'm a Breeder," he said, knowing that he likely would have nothing to do with how Nando made his choice.

Nando regarded Ash with curiosity. "I see. Why do you do both, if I may ask?" he asked.

"Well, I started with Gym Battles, wanting to compete in the Indigo League. Once I got to Hoenn though, I got a good look at Contests, since a companion of mine was a Coordinator. I started to help her with her appeals, then saw the use of finesse in battles, for more than just looking good, since it required a lot of control over the moves. So I started to compete in Contests so that I could tell how well I was doing, and I tied with May in the Grand Festival in Kanto. Now my Pokémon have a great control over their power, just the way it should be," Ash said, being clear since he knew that this was important to Nando.

Nando smiled. "Thank you, my friend. You have just made my choice very easy for me," he said.

"Oh?" Ash asked.

"Yes. I will choose to do both, as you have. Thanks to you I have decided to continue doing what I love, and I love both of them. Thank you. I feel that I must repay you, but I do not know how," Nando said, frowning slightly at the end.

Ash looked thoughtfully. "Actually, I have an idea. Nando, how would you feel about battling my friend here, Dawn? You see, I'm taking on the role of Mentor for her, and I think that it would be great experience for her if she got to battle a real Trainer. Would you be up for it?" Ash asked.

Nando smiled again. "That would be no problem at all, Ash. Well, Dawn? How about it?" he asked.

Dawn grinned. "I would like that a lot! Thank you so much, Nando!" she said.

"No trouble at all! Now, how about a one-on-one elimination battle with no time limit? We will add Contest elements to it, so make your attacks as showy as possible. If an attack fails, you lose points, if it fails to hit, you also lose points. Same with me. The first person to lose all of their points loses. Is that okay?" Nando asked.

She nodded. "Of course! Um, Ash, do you have a way to keep track?" she asked, looking at her Mentor.

Ash pressed a few buttons on his Xtransceiver, then nodded. "Yeah. Apparently there's an App on here that helps Coordinators, just in case we run across to Coordinators, or we decide to compete in a Contest battle, that's my guess," he said.

He pressed another button and a hologram of the score appeared clearly for everyone there.

"Alright then. Dawn, you may go first," Nando offered, his Budew taking her place on his side of the field.

Dawn smiled. "Thanks, Nando! Piplup, Spotlight!" she said, pointing towards the field. Piplup jumped forward, getting into a ready pose.

"Alright, are both Coordinators ready?" Brock asked.

"Yes," Nando said simply.

"Yep!" Dawn said, excited and full of nerves. This was her first Contest battle, and she wanted to do well. If she didn't then she felt that she would let Ash down, and it would feel as if all of her training in the past day was all wasted.

"Alright then, the battle ends when either your points are gone or your Pokémon is unable to battle! With that understood, let the battle begin!" Brock announced, slashing his hand down.

"Alright, Piplup, use Peck!" Dawn ordered.

Piplup's beak glowed brightly as he charged the attack, then he threw himself at the Budew, who looked ready to do as Nando ordered when he ordered it.

"Budew, please Dodge," Nando requested.

Budew jumped over Piplup's head, then faced him, ready to attack. Dawn's points went down a bit.

"Now, Bullet Seed, if you please," Nando said.

"Piplup, quick, turn around and finish Peck!" Dawn ordered quickly, before Budew could even start to charge her attack.

Piplup quickly spun around, then managed to hit Budew before she could even react, having been too surprised by his quick action, sending her flying backwards, having taken heavy damage from that Super Effective attack and the landing, which was fairly painful. Nando's points went down by a fourth.

Nando smiled. "Well, I can see that I made a mistake there. Good job, Dawn. Budew, are you well?" he asked, concerned for his Pokémon.

Budew got up and nodded, getting ready to attack again.

"Good. Now, please, Solorbeam!" Nando asked.

As Budew began to charge, Piplup looked to Dawn for instruction, looking slightly panicked.

"Piplup, use Bide now!" Dawn ordered, looking worried, but taking the chance anyway.

Ash was surprised that she was taking that chance, but it was a good idea if you knew that you couldn't dodge in time, which Piplup wouldn't be able to do, since the Sunny Day was still in effect.

Piplup nodded and got Bide up just in time to catch the incoming Solarbeam. He was almost pushed back, but he set his stance and withstood it, but barely. His points dwindled bit by bit, leaving him at a quarter of points when it was done.

It bounced back quickly, lined up in the same moment that it finished, leaving Budew no time to dodge, because she was still tired from using it. She flew back and skidded across the ground. Her points went down to only a tiny sliver, having lost points because of damage done and an attack used against her.

She weakly pushed herself back up, then a glow enveloped her and she Evolved into Roselia. Even then, she was still so injured and tired that she collapsed, unable to battle. The attack, while a Grass move, was powerful. With Bide added to it the power doubled, and so did double the damage. Combined with the Peck attack from earlier, it was too much. Her points went down all the way.

Nando knelt down next to Roselia, cradling her in his arms. "Dear me, Roselia, I am so sorry for losing this battle," he said sorrowfully.

Roselia opened her eyes and she smiled at him. "Ro Selia," she said.

He smiled and held up her Pokeball. "You did well. Take a rest for now," he said, recalling her.

He then stood up and approached Dawn, who was praising Piplup. He smiled at her. "A job well done, Dawn. And may I say, I would never have guessed that this was your first battle. You did so well, each move was well thought out, and you countered me very well. I hope to face you in a real Contest some day," he said.

She smiled. "Really?! Thank you so much, Nando! But, how long have you had Budew?" she asked, wondering why it had been such a close battle. She was just starting out, but Nando said that he'd been traveling for years. So why?

"Ah, I understand. The truth is that Budew hatched for me just a month ago and hasn't had much battling experience. To have Evolved so early must mean that we have a strong bond which led to her wanting to win the battle for me so much. See, Budew is one of the Pokémon who uses a strong friendship to Evolve, regardless of experience," Nando said.

She nodded. "That makes sense. Thank you again for the battle!" she said, smiling happily.

He smiled back. "Not a problem. It was my pleasure," he said, placing a hand over his heart.

Ash smiled as well. "I know that my student has already thanked you, but I'd like to thank you as well. I feel that this battle has let her grow in ways that she hasn't before. Thank you very much," he said.

Nando chuckled. "As I said, it was no problem. I was happy to battle her. Oh, would you like a battle as well, Ash? I would love to battle her Mentor!" he said.

Ash grinned. "Yeah, I'd love to battle you!" he said.

Nando smiled. "Well then, let us begin," he said, going back to his side of the field.

Ash switched spots with Dawn, giving her a high-five on the way.

"Okay, this will be a one-on-one elimination battle with no time limit! Will both Trainers please send out their Pokémon?" Brock asked.

"Swablu, please assist me!" Nando said, throwing a Pokeball.

A Swablu appeared on Nando's side of the field, flapping its cotton wings gently.

'Hmm, a Flying/Normal type huh? Well, using Raichu would be overkill, but both Riolu and Larvitar have an advantage. However, Riolu would also be weak, considering the Flying typing of Swablu. So Larvitar would be the best choice,' Ash thought, trying to think it through.

"Larvitar, Battlefront!" Ash called, gently tossing the Pokeball into the air.

Larvitar appeared on Ash's side of the field, body tense as he prepared for his first real battle under Ash. Ash had never allowed him to battle Red, because he stood no real chance and Ash wasn't the kind of person to put him in a battle that he Larvitar couldn't win. So now he was psyched and ready to win his first battle for Ash.

"I see. So you chose a Pokémon whose type gave it an advantage," Nando said with a smile.

"I didn't just choose him for that reason. See, the other two that I had that wouldn't completely overpower your Pokémon are also either at a type disadvantage or they have almost no training. I want to give Meowth a bit more training before putting him in a really tough battle. Besides, out of the three, Larvitar here is closest to Evolving," Ash explained.

"Ah, that makes sense," Nando said, nodding.

"Alright then! Battle begin!" Brock announced when no more talk seemed forthcoming, his arm slashing down.

"Alright Swablu, Ice Beam, please!" Nando requested.

Swablu's beak glowed icy white as she charged her attack.

"Okay, Larvitar, dodge and use Smack Down!" Ash ordered.

As Swablu fired her attack, Larvitar dodged, running around to behind Swablu, forming a rock that would make Swablu crash into the ground.

"Please, dodge it," Nando said.

Swablu dodged just in time, then turned around to face Larvitar again, ready for the next order.

"Mist, if you please," Nando said, hoping to gain a bit of an advantage over Ash.

As the blue/white Mist formed, Ash had other ideas. "Larvitar, Sandstorm!" he called.

Larvitar grinned and started the Sandstorm, which whipped up the air and cleared the Mist from the air, leaving Swablu at a clear disadvantage and Larvitar at an advantage.

"Good job, Larvitar, now use Rock Throw!" Ash ordered.

Large rocks began to pelt Swablu, dealing great damage. Nando looked at a loss for a moment, then he brightened.

"Swablu, use Sing, please," he said with a smile.

Swablu raised her head against the thrown rocks, then let out a beautiful humming that sounded like a lullaby, causing Larvitar's eyes to get heavy. He fought against it, but his eyes slipped shut and he fell asleep.

Ash frowned. Good thing the Sandstorm was still up, else it would become difficult to win this, but it wouldn't last forever.

"Now, Swablu, Hyper Voice, if you please," Nando said, sure that he had the advantage now.

"No! Larvitar, wake up! C'mon, buddy, you can wake up!" Ash shouted.

As Larvitar's ears were assaulted by the loud, high pitched screech of Hyper Voice, he managed to hear Ash's plea. He began to struggle to wake up.

The humans and Swablu were surprised to see a white glow from in the Sandstorm, then they heard a cry of, "Pupitar!"

Ash grinned and Nando frowned. "Alright! Good job, Pupitar! Now, use Stone Edge!" Ash ordered.

Swablu attempted to dodge on his own, but quickly found that the eye of the Sandstorm was getting pretty small, and so found herself with the choice of get hit or brave the Sandstorm. She decided to brave the Sandstorm, but she was too late, as large stone slabs knifed their way out of the ground and hit her, causing her to cry out in pain, then hit the ground in a faint.

The Sandstorm died down just at that moment, showing how lucky they had been to get in that attack. It also revealed Pupitar, who was panting and looking tired. The barrage of Hyper Voice did him no favors it seemed.

Still, he floated over to Ash, who hugged him happily. "Good job, Pupitar! I'm so proud of you!" Ash said.

"Pupi Tar!" Pupitar said, grinning happily.

Nando, on the other side of the field, was thanking his Swablu for the effort that she put in. "Thank you, Swablu. Now, take a nice, long rest. You deserve it," he said.

The two men met in the middle and shook hands. "Thank you for the wonderful battle, Ash. It really showed me how far I need to improve," Nando said.

Ash chuckled. "Nah, I should be the one thanking you! Thanks to this battle, Pupitar Evolved!" he said.

"Well, either way, I still appreciate the battle, and the advice that you gave me. I hope to meet you again soon," Nando said, then he turned and headed to the Pokecenter which was up ahead.

Ash first turned to Dawn. "Okay, so what did you learn from the two battles?" he asked.

"Well, I learned that Piplup has low endurance, which can be trained up, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yep, that's right," he said.

"And, maybe I should have dodged the Solarbeam instead of having Piplup use Bide. It was a risky move, but it still worked, though I shouldn't count on that working the next time, should I?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Nope. It was a brilliant counter, but you should raise his endurance to Grass type attacks before you do that again. You were pretty lucky that his Budew was new, and that it only Evolved right at the end, otherwise you would have been in big trouble, since Piplup was barely standing when he won," Ash instructed.

She nodded. "Okay, I'll train really hard! Can your Pokémon help mine with that, please?" she asked, giving him a begging look.

He smiled. "Sure. I'll have one of my Grass types come over and they can help. Hmm, maybe Ivysaur would be best for that. He knows how to restrain himself," he said.

She smiled brightly. "Thank you, Ash!" she said.

He nodded. "No problem. Now, what else?" he asked.

She frowned. "Well, I noticed that Piplup was throwing himself to attack, just hoping that he would hit, but doing it that way could leave him open for attack, so I need to train that out of him," she said.

He nodded in approval. "Well spotted. And what about my battle?" he asked.

"Um, well, you chose a Pokémon with a type advantage," she said.

"Right, but remember that type advantage means nothing when the opponent has a move that your Pokémon is weak to, such as his Swablu knowing Ice Beam. Pupitar could have been in big trouble if that had hit," Ash said.

She nodded. "Right. Uh, you countered Mist by using a move that would benefit you," she said.

He nodded. "Right, just don't expect it to always work, because some Pokémon have Abilities that clear the Weather, no matter what Weather attack that you're using, such as Cloud Nine, which Psyduck regularly have," he said.

She absorbed that. "Okay, that's good to know. You then used Rock Throw to pelt Swablu with rocks while she couldn't see where you were, but she countered with Sing, which is an auditory attack, and so can't be blocked with a regular attack," she said.

He nodded again, glad to see that she had been paying attention and was finding the information in the battle. "That's true. However, other auditory attacks, such as Hyper Voice, or Disarming Voice, can counter Sing, by making the two noises clash. Also, Abilities such as Vital Spirit, or Insomnia, will keep the Pokémon awake no matter what," he said.

She smiled. "Thanks! Okay, you seemed pretty lucky with the Evolution though. Or did you plan that?" she asked.

"No, I was lucky. There was a chance that he wouldn't have woken up until he was almost finished, even with my asking him to wake up. His Evolution came just in time though, as it's impossible to stay asleep when you Evolve. However, you can't always count on a sudden Evolution to save you, so I'd suggest to carry a Poké Flute around, just in case. This was a lesson for me to do that as well. Now, you hit all the main points, so good job. Now, let's go get our Pokémon healed. There's a Pokecenter up ahead. It says so on my GPS," Ash said, turning around and leading them away.

III

While their Pokémon were getting healed, Dawn had called her mom and had introduced her to Ash and Brock.

"Ash is my Mentor, Mom! Isn't that great?" Dawn asked, grinning.

Johanna smiled at Ash. "Thank you so much for taking great care of my daughter. My Dawn has a knack for getting into trouble, so I appreciate you looking out for her!" she said.

Ash chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. "There's no need to thank me, Mrs. Berlitz! I guess that I feel protective of her since the Ariados incident," he said.

She looked worried. "What Ariados incident? Dawn never told me about that!" she said.

Dawn sighed. "Here we go," she said.

"Dawn, I know that you don't want to make your mom worry, but she has the right to know that you almost got really hurt," Brock said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Ash nodded. "Brock's right, Dawn. I don't want to make my mom worry, and she has a lot of reason to worry, but I still tell her about all of my adventures, because she deserves to know," he said.

Dawn nodded, looking apologetic. "Sorry, Mom. See, the thing is, when I went to get my Starter, Piplup and Chimchar had a fight and they ran off into the woods. I went to go search for them, and I found Piplup in a web. Well, I managed to free Piplup and the other Pokémon caught in the web, but I only made the Ariados angry, so they came after me and Piplup. We'd thought that we lost them, when they found us again. Piplup used Bide to protect me, but he was worn out, so when a second wave of Ariados came, we thought that we were goners. Luckily, Ash heard my screams and he came to my protection, defeating the Ariados, then escorting me back to Prof. Rowan's Lab. On the way, I told him that I wanted to be a Coordinator and he offered to be my Mentor!" she said, smiling at the end.

Johanna smiled. "Well, that's pretty lucky! Thank you again, Ash, Brock. So, Ash, are you a Coordinator then?" she asked.

"Not full time. Most of the time I'm a regular Trainer," he answered.

"But you're experienced in Contests?" she asked.

"Sure am. I tied with my friend, May, in the Grand Festival in Kanto," Ash said.

She snapped her fingers. "So that's why you look familiar! I remember you now! I was watching that Grand Festival a few months back, and I have to say that I'm very impressed! Dawn, you have a fine Mentor here. He can show you the ropes in both Contests and regular Battles. Now, I have to go. Don't get into any trouble!" she said.

"No need to worry!" Dawn reassured.

Johanna sighed. "Whenever you say that is when I worry the most! Ash, Brock, please take care of her!" she said.

"We will!" they said, smiling.

Johanna smiled back. "Thank you! Bye," she said, then the screen went blank.

Dawn scowled. "I can take care of myself!" she muttered.

"Yeah, but you don't have to. We're here for you, so you don't have to go through anything alone," Ash said, smiling.

"Ash is right. That's what comrades are for!" Brock told her with a smile.

She smiled back. "Thanks, you two!" she said, feeling happy.

"Well, now that our Pokémon are healed, why don't we train for a bit before dinner?" Ash asked, looking at the sky through a window. There seemed to be about two hours left of good sunlight, so that would do.

"Yeah, okay!" Dawn said, standing up.

"Sure. I'll train Bonsly today, Ash. I'd like to see exactly how far in his training he is, from a viewpoint other than just watching," Brock said.

Ash nodded. "That's not a problem. He's your Pokémon, afterall, not mine," he said.

With that, the trio, plus their Pokémon, went outside.

"Boss, what do you want me to train in today?" Meowth asked after everyone but him got their training orders.

"Today we're going to work on how to use Payday, and how to infuse your coins with electricity so that you can possibly paralyze your opponent, or at least do extra harm," Ash said.

Meowth nodded. "Okay, works for me!" he said, ready to give it his all.

III

Two men walked into Prof. Rowan's Lab. One was older and had short black hair, the other was younger, about mid-thirties and had long silver hair.

Prof. Rowan walked over to them with a frown. "Hello, may I help you?" he asked.

"Yes. We were wondering if you knew which way Ash went?" the man with silver hair asked.

"I do, but why do you want to know? Who are you?" Prof. Rowan asked.

"Well, he's my son. I'm Silver Ketchum, and this is my father," the sliver haired man said.

Prof. Rowan nodded. "I see. You do have a resemblance to him, so I will believe you for now. He headed in the direction of Jubilife City, though he shouldn't arrive there for another day at least," he said.

Silver smiled. "Thank you very much. I appreciate this," he said, then the two men left, the man with black hair never saying a word.

Both were anticipating their meeting with Ash and they couldn't wait to see him again.

III

How do you all like the way he handled Paul? What about the way he's mentoring Dawn? How about the insight into his relationship with his Pokemon? Tell me all what you think!

If anyone can guess who the man with Silver is, I'll let you know one thing about any future chapters that you want to ask!

Good luck, and as always, if you have an idea for the story, I will consider it.

Aisu.